Spain

Monday 27:

After 9 long days at sea we finally have reached our first port—Barcelona, Spain! In the morning I had to attend a Faculty Directed Practicum (FDP), which are essentially field trips with professors. We are required to complete FDPs while in port in order to get enough class time hours to be approved for credit. The one I attended was called “Traditional Islamic Clothing.” Last summer, Barcelona became the first major Spanish city to ban the use of face-covering Islamic veils in municipal buildings. A representative from Amnesty International came on board and discussed the government’s rational for the ban and the organization’s opposition to it. It was a very interesting lecture and now I have a better understanding of the significance of traditional Islamic clothing.

As soon as the FDP was over we rushed to debark the ship, eager to be on land again and see the country. Immediately I was able to test my Spanish when we hopped on a bus to take us to La Rambla, the main drag in Barcelona. The driver didn’t speak any English so I had to be the translator. He mixed a lot of Catalan with Spanish so some of the words he used I was unfamiliar with but I was able to decipher enough to get us to the right spot. While we were driving, he called me up to the front of the bus and taught me some basic Catalan words that I would probably hear often.

When we got off the bus we explored La Rambla before stopping for lunch at a restaurant called Patagonia. I had the most amazing paella, sangria and a nutella crepe with strawberries and coconut! When lunch was over we walked around the old town and did some shopping before stopping by the Gothic Cathedral. Dakota (another Vandy SAS student) and I had to get back to the ship at 6:00 PM to do another FDP. This one included eating a traditional Spanish dinner while watching a flamenco dance show. Again, another good meal! It was quite an experience seeing the colorful costumes and watching the unique dance style of flamenco, which includes heel stamping (Taconeo), hand clapping (Palmas Sordas) and finger snapping (Pitos). Later on in the evening I met back up with everyone and sat with them for dinner and drinks at this really cool restaurant called The Attic. LD (a friend from high school who is studying abroad in Barcelona right now) even met up with us! We all then headed over to a bar called Ovejas Negras in an alleyway that reminded me a lot of Diagon Alley from Harry Potter! A lot of SAS students were there and we had a few more drinks before heading to a bar/club for the rest of the night. We got back to the ship a little after 4 am. First day in Barcelona= success!!

Tuesday 28:

Today we went to the city of Sitges which is about 2 hours away from the ship. It is a really cute and quaint little town known for its gorgeous beaches. We got in around 2:00 PM and after eating lunch outdoors at a restaurant we headed for the beach! The ocean was gorgeous and it was such a beautiful day. We were some of the few girls, however, wearing full bathing suits. Most of the women there were completely topless which was kinda weird, especially when we saw old ladies in the nude. Gross! Haha

Katie Bradley (a KD at Vandy with me) studied in Barcelona last summer and stayed with a host family. Tonight for dinner we ate at her host mother’s home. Her name is Rosa and she is absolutely fantastic! She is a single woman living alone in Barcelona so she enjoys hosting foreign exchange students. Currently she has two American girls who are my age living with her. Rosa cooked a full homemade meal for us that was hands down some of the best food I have had yet! She is definitely a food pusher and insisted that we eat everything on our plate. It was an easy request to fulfill though! Because Rosa doesn’t know any English, all of dinner was spoken completely in Spanish. I have to say that I’m pretty proud of myself for how well I have been communicating with all of the locals. Other than talking to other SAS students, I have only spoken in Spanish since being here. So far the majority of what we have seen and done has been very touristy. Because of this, it was awesome to get a taste of the typical life of a Spanish local in their own home. Eating at Rosa’s was truly a special experience.

We didn’t leave her apartment until 11:00 PM. Afterwards we headed to a bar called the Dow Jones. Here the prices of the drinks rise and fall depending on its demand. Then all of a sudden the “stock market” will crash and everyone will rush to the bar to buy a drink when it’s cheap. I met up with LD for a little while here and met several other Aggies on her program. While we were at the bar I also ran into a guy who goes to Vanderbilt. I had no idea he was studying in Spain and it was just a total coincidence that we ran into each other that night. What a small world!

Wednesday 29:

Today we devoted our time to sight seeing. We started off by walking through la Boquerìa market. It was packed with vendors selling all types of food and spices. After a quick lunch we made our way to Casa Batlló, an apartment designed by Gaudí. It was some of the most amazing architecture I have ever seen before. It was designed to utilize natural light. There was not a single straight wall in the house and it sort of had a whimsical feel to it. Next we took the metro over to La Sagrada Familia, probably what Gaudí is most famous for. It was the most breathtaking cathedral I have ever been in. It remains incomplete but in progress since Gaudí’s death. From there we traveled to Parc Güel (yet another unfinished work by Gaudí), stopping along the way for gelato. The park overlooks all of Barcelona offering spectacular views of the city. Afterwards we rushed back to the ship to get ready to go out. While heading back into the city, me and my friend Clara “iced” our other friend Robbie on La Rambla.  All Americans on the street recognized what we were doing and rushed over laughing and cheering Robbie on. Then back on the metro we had another memorable moment when we all hopped off at our stop to turn around and see another friend Molly trapped inside the metro. The doors had closed on her before she could get off and we literally peed our pants laughing and crying as we saw her face pressed up against the glass window when the metro pulled away. It was no big deal because she just got off at the next stop and onto a returning metro to meet back up with us. When we finally got to the beach, Clara and I decided to pull another prank and hid Molly’s shoes, putting her sandals in Robbie’s back pockets. She was totally convinced that a pick-pocket had stolen her shoes! Ahh it was too funny! We ended our night at the Kaskade concert at a club called Opium that is located along the beach. We hit up McDonalds at 4:30 am before heading back to the ship. What a productive day! Haha

Thursday 30:

Our last day was another site seeing day. First we stopped by la Boquerìa for some sandwiches to go before catching the metro to the Catalonia Museum of National Art. Afterwards we walked over to Montjuïc Hill, the site of the 1992 Olympic Stadium, which was pretty interesting to see. Afterwards we made our way over to the Picasso museum. Unfortunately I couldn’t find our painting though! From there we stopped by a grocery store quickly to stock up on more food. The ship sails at 6:00 PM so we had to get back kind of early. Tomorrow we are at sea all day but will only attend our Global Studies course. The rest of the day will be spent participating in Sea Olympics, which is when decks compete in a series of games, races and challenges. I’m in the Red Sea, so wish us luck! I had an amazing time in Barcelona and am determined to come live here one day. While I’m bummed to already be leaving, I’m excited for our next port—Italy!

Pictures: 1. Gothic Cathedral 2. Sitges 3. Dow Jones Bar 4. La Boquerìa market 5. Casa Batlló 6. La Sagrada Familia 7. Parc Güel 8. Museum of National Art 9. Picasso Museum 

Strait of Gibraltar

We are two days away from Spain and today the ship passed through the Strait of Gibraltar. We anchored for a few hours to refuel but in the meantime we were able to look out and see the passageway. On one side lay Europe and to our other side was Africa. It was a pretty cool view to look out and see two continents at the same time.

We’ve been hitting some rough waters lately. Apparently as we get closer to the Mediterranean the water becomes shallower and we feel the waves more. The ship’s rocking is constant. Last night at dinner silverware kept sliding off of the tables and a few times I walked into a wall when the ship suddenly tilted. It feels like you are on a roller coaster because your stomach keeps dropping. I’ve been fortunate, however, not to get sea sick but some others aren’t so lucky! Soon we will be back on land though. And we will be able to walk straight again and have normal meals without flying utensils!

This morning we had a midterm in Global Studies which for the most part was pretty easy. Tomorrow I have a paper due as well as a quiz. My paper is about a Mediterranean war fought between the Ottoman Empire and Spain. It is basically in response to the book Empires of the Sea that we had to read for my Modern History of North Africa and the Middle East class. Shouldn’t be too tough of a paper…I just need to finish the book first!

Something else exciting that happened today was that I found out I won the spa raffle of a free makeover! The prize includes: a hair consultation to get your hair cut and colored, a deep conditioning hair treatment, 25 minute massage, mini facial, eyebrow wax and manicure. My roommate said it was karma for going to every class and not skipping! (Dad- maybe it was just because I was feeling lucky! Haha) I had the massage and facial today. Now that I’m well-rested, time to knock out all this homework!

Land spotting!

Today we sailed passed Portugal—finally land! We could see an outline of the country early this morning and it was exciting to see something other than just pure ocean for once. This must mean we are getting close to Spain! Yay!!

Also, tomorrow marks the end of my first full week on Semester at Sea!

Still at sea…

Yesterday was my roommate, Christine’s (aka Tine) 21^st birthday. We celebrated by booking a “special dining.” Special dining is when you can pay $35 per person to have a sit down meal with waiters in a private room. They serve you a five course meal that is different than the normal buffet. The food was really really good…mostly likely it was just because it was a break from the usual dining hall food. At dinner they served finger foods, chicken skewers with peanut sauce, pot stickers, caesar salad, pasta pomidoro, broccoli soup and lime sorbet. Then you had a choice between fish or beef tenderloin for your entre and ice cream cake or chocolate torte for dessert. The whole meal was complete with champagne and we sang happy birthday. We even got one of the waiters to take the typical 21^st birthday picture where he pretended to look at her “ID” which was really just her room card but hey, it worked! After dinner I had to meet for a group project but afterwards we had “Pub Night” on the ship where you are allowed three more drinks. Everyone socialized by the pool outside and we even managed to get the whole deck to sing happy birthday to Tine. Afterwards a group of us went up to the observation deck where we got to look out at the ocean. It was pretty awesome to look out on the sea at night.

This morning was miserable waking up. Each night at midnight we have to set our clocks forward. We lost yet another hour of sleep last night since we are sailing through time zones. All of us are pretty much sleep deprived at this point. Our first port, Barcelona, is 7 hours ahead so we have a few more time changes to endure before we get there.

Later in the afternoon we got to take a bridge tour. It was really cool to see how the ship operates. We even got to sit in the captain’s chair where he navigates the ship and I put on the captain hat! Great photo op! haha

I ended up dropping my Spanish Literature course. Even though I understood the professor and the material, the homework was just way too demanding. Our first night’s assignment was to read 30 pages of a book that was all in Spanish. Each page of text was in tiny print and in two columns. After all of that reading you had write in Spanish a journal reflection and then answer several questions on the reading- all in one night! I’m used to a lot of work at Vanderbilt but the professor’s expectations were so unreasonable and the majority of the students ended up dropping the course as well. Now, however, I am taking Modern History of North Africa and the Middle East. The professor is so engaging and is hilarious. Even though it will not count towards my major or minor it is actually nice to take a class just “for the sake of learning” for once! I need to buckle down though and get to work. I have a test, two quizzes, a five page paper and a few other small assignments due all before we get to Barcelona. Yikes! I’m so ready to finally see land again and explore Spain! We get to Barcelona on the 27^th!

First day of classes

After a full day of back to back meetings yesterday, we finally started class today. I have to admit that I sort of forgot that we actually have to go to school on this thing! I can already tell that keeping up with all of my work is going to be a bit of a challenge. Courses are definitely accelerated since we only have 23 days of class time out of our 66 day voyage. My morning began with the Global Studies class that all SAS students have to take. Captain Roman Krstanovic guest lectured and gave some pretty interesting information regarding our ship. The entire lecture focused on describing the ship as a floating city. We discussed general urban characteristics that the MV Explorer shares with other societies. I had been asked before I left what MV stood for in the ship’s name and now I know that MV stands for motor vessel (so now you know Papa John!). After class I was able to finally get some gym time in.  It is definitely an experience trying to workout on a rocking ship and you have to be extra careful when using the machines so you don’t stumble during one of the ship’s sudden lurches. From the gym I grabbed a quick lunch before I headed to my Negotiating for Value and then later my Spanish Literature classes. Already I have loads of homework and a quiz tomorrow but I can’t complain. Right now I’m sitting outside on the deck getting some work done. It’s hard to concentrate though because the ocean is just so beautiful. It really is an amazing feeling looking out to see that you are completely surrounded by the ocean. I already love it here at sea and am so thankful that this is my life for the next two months.

And HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to the BEST Dad in the world!! Love and miss you!! xoxo 

One of the world's largest floating libraries

Time to “sea” the world

I boarded the MV Explorer today and am finally settled in my new home for the next two months. After a long wait to go through security and a tearful goodbye (on my mom’s part!) I am now here! Today was pretty uneventful and we had lots of downtime while waiting for everyone else to board the ship. Our rooms are small but pretty nice. Thankfully my cabin has a window, which brightens up the room a bit. The indoor rooms are really dark and kind of gloomy. My roommate seems cool (shout out to Kara for setting us up! Haha) and I think we are going to get along great. She is a rising senior at the College of Charleston and already the two of us have met other students and formed a little group to hang out with.

After unpacking, I explored the ship some before we had a mandatory safety drill. We were instructed to wear closed toe shoes, long pants, a long sleeve shirt, hat and life jacket during the whole procedure. Kids who didn’t dress properly had to go back to their rooms and change until we could pass the inspection. And boy was it HOTTTT standing out there! Thankfully that part is over! At 5:00 PM the MV Explorer set sail to cross the Atlantic Ocean. All the students went outside and stood on the deck as we sailed away from port. It’s hard to believe that I won’t be seeing land for another ten days! I had my first taste of ship food for lunch and dinner today and it was definitely sub-par. Pasta and potatoes seem to be the staple at every meal. I’m really glad I packed all those extra granola bars because I will definitely be eating them throughout the voyage.

Later on in the evening we had to attend orientation where they basically just gave us a quick overview and did some introductions of the crew and faculty. It was interesting to note that the SAS students come from 280 different universities and 74% are girls (oh well, I just want the foreign boys anyway!). We have a few “life-time learners” on the ship, the oldest of which is a lady who is 89! At the orientation they also made sure that we were aware to call the MV Explorer a ship and not a boat, and that this is a voyage not a cruise…very important distinctions. After orientation we had another meeting where we broke out into our “seas” which are divided up by decks. I belong to the Red Sea and basically we will compete as a group against the other seas in the Sea Olympics and other races and competitions. It’s now about 11:00 PM or 23:00 in military time (the time the ship runs on) and I am just now getting back to my cabin. The ship has definitely been rocking quite a deal but so far I’m not sea sick; let’s hope it stays that way! We have yet another full day of meetings tomorrow starting at 9 AM with breakfast at 7:30 AM so time for bed! Goodnight from sea!

Setting sail!

My cabin and home for the next two months

Bahama Mama!

Wow, I can’t believe the time has finally come! I arrived in the Bahamas with my mom and dad Tuesday to enjoy the beautiful island for a few days before I set sail tomorrow. When we first landed, I experienced my first taste of culture shock when I hopped in a cab and the wheel was on the right and the cars drove on the left side of the road. I have to admit that at first it kind of freaked me out a bit to be driving on the “wrong side of the road.” I also have tried new foods since being here such as conch and plantains, both of which were delicious! We’ve been staying at the Sheraton hotel in Nassau and have just mainly been relaxing by the ocean. On our first night, I tried my hand at some gambling but was stopped by someone working in the casino who didn’t think I was of age. She was shocked to learn that I’m actually 20 years old. Ughh, why do I always get mistaken for being so young? Since arriving to the Bahamas, two other people we’ve met also thought that I was a lot younger than I am. (One lady guessed I was in 7^th grade! Now c’mon!) Oh well, at least I did end up winning $6 at Black Jack! Haha This morning we woke up early to go swimming with the dolphins. We all got the chance to dance, feed, hug and kiss the dolphins. Mom’s dolphin wanted an open mouth kiss hahaha They were too funny and had lot’s of personality. The best part of the excursion was when you got to be pushed across the lagoon by them. Basically you lay flat on your belly with your feet out and two dolphins come from behind and push your feet with their mouths while you keep your body really straight in a “T” position. Once I got over my initial fear, it was awesome and the dolphin trainers let me go twice!  Mom, Dad and I had a nice dinner out on the water at Atlantis tonight. My last meal before I set sail tomorrow! It still hasn’t quite hit me yet that this is happening but ready or not I am boarding at 9 am. Stay posted!